ars PARADOXICA

Dr. Sally Grissom is stuck in the past. When a quirk of physics draws her into the middle of a top-secret military test on the deck of the USS Eldridge in 1943, Sally must convince Director Bill Donovan and his Office of Developed Anomalous Resources that she isn’t a hostile force bent on espionage. But she may be just the answer Donovan has been looking for: an end to the Second World War, and control over the post-war world. **Be advised: This episode contains the sounds of humans vomiting.

A power outage creates an unlikely friendship.

Sally and her assistants Jack Wyatt and Esther Roberts have to present a working Timepiece to the top brass in a week’s time. The only problem? It’s really hard to present time travel in the flesh. To ease the pressure, Anthony Partridge suggests a weekend trip to the newest desert vacation spot: Las Vegas, NV. But sending Sally off in public is a dangerous prospect. Will Sally’s foreknowledge of card-counting techniques and the looming Trinity nuclear test land her in hot water?

Chet Whickman, head of ODAR security, is here to break up the party. Time is ticking down til Judgment Day, but their transport vehicles break down in the middle of the desert. Sally, Chet, Anthony and his wife Helen witness the dawn of a new age of military science, and some of them realize that they may not come away from ODAR with their hands clean.

Quentin Barlowe dies mysteriously, and all fingers point to Sally Grissom. To prove her innocence, Sally works through the night to create the TAP, a window through time, so she can see what really happened. But when she’s confronted by the widow June Barlowe, Sally may wish she had left well enough alone. **WARNING: This episode contains depictions of gun violence. Listener discretion advised.

Sally is drunk, locked in a broom closet and the town is about to explode. But it’s hard to invest in the future of Polvo when projects are getting cut left and right, and Intelligence Agent Hank Cornish is closing up the town for good. Can Sally and Jack pull off one last miracle? And how can Bill Donovan use that miracle to his advantage?

Bill Donovan’s called in every favor he has to keep the lights on and the Timepiece up and running. Banished to the isolated mountain town of Point-of-Exile, Colorado, and with so many failures under their belt, can Sally, Esther, Jack, Chet, Anthony and Helen find reasons to continue on? And will Bill Donovan live long enough to see them finally succeed?

As work continues on a new iteration of ODAR’s time-bending technology, Jack Wyatt can’t shake the feeling that he might not be right for the job, and Esther is left picking up the pieces. Meanwhile, Anthony Partridge is investigating a new face in town: Agent Hank Cornish. But is it really worth all the fuss? Or is he just using this—and his research into Bill Donovan’s declining health—as an excuse to avoid supporting Helen in her cabaret debut?

An accident finally leads to a practically-demonstrable use of the Timepiece: the CAGE, a bubble of time outside the universe. Chet isn’t too happy with Esther’s decision to spend 24 (relative) hours trapped inside it. But when he is trapped inside with her, it gives these two time to talk about the only thing they have in common: ODAR, and its potential future without Bill Donovan.

It’s Christmastime again, and the team is on the verge of a breakthrough. Anthony Partridge has been working nonstop to finish his latest invention, and though he’s made substantial gains, he may stand to lose even more. Jack Wyatt is done with the whole ODAR game and wants to take his girlfriend Penny with him, but Esther’s just stuck one foot further in and might need his help. And Sally, all alone on Christmas, finds solace—and the answers she’s been looking for—in her new 20th-century family. But with Bill Donovan in dire straits and Anthony Partridge left all alone, who knows what discoveries yet lay hidden?

Anthony Partridge has stumbled across a box full of tapes in Bill Donovan’s office. Spoilers: Bill’s had the whole town wired for years, and he’s recorded EVERYTHING. And that’s not all–he’s been blackmailing politicians, he manipulated Helen, and he’s bending the fabric of spacetime to keep himself in power. He doesn’t stop for breath, even when his health starts to fail. Is there anything Bill Donovan won’t do?

When Anthony seeks revenge on Bill Donovan for his crimes, he finds more than he’d bargained for: due to the effects of CAGE therapy, he’s a frail old man, confined to a bed, but otherwise healthy. But that won’t be enough to stop Anthony Partridge when he’s got an axe to grind. Meanwhile, Sally gets a visit from her future self, and if you though one Sally was a lot to handle… Oh man. Just you wait. **WARNING: This episode contains graphic depictions of violence. Listener discretion advised.